How To Get The Best From Your Conveyancing Lawyers

As a partner in a firm of conveyancing lawyers I come across all kinds of customers. Some are;pushy, aloof, needy, relaxed, polite or aggressive but they all in general have one thing in common- they would all like the house sale or purchase to complete as quickly and as smoothly as possible and the blame for any delays will always rest on the shoulders of the conveyancing lawyers, but there are a number of things you as the client can do to help make sure delays are avoided.

Fill In The Forms

The first thing that will happen with any transaction is that your conveyancing lawyer will send you a number of forms to fill-in and return. They are pretty boring but nevertheless essential. No real work can start on the property transfer until your conveyancing lawyer has them back. If you find the forms tricky to understand, a good conveyancing lawyer will take the time to run through them with your or at the very least send you a conveyancing guide to follow. Try to think of it like this- the clock starts ticking not when you accept an offer (or have an offer accepted) but when your conveyancer receives your initial instructions.

At various stages there will be other forms to sign and return and again, any progress will usually be halted until you deal with these.

Your Conveyancing Lawyers Are The Pro’s

All the way through your transaction you’ll probable find all sorts of people sticking their oar in. Most of this will be well-meaning but inaccurate. Family, co-workers, your mate down the pub to the estate agent or mortgage broker. Whilst they may all have valid points, remember that it is your conveyancing lawyers who are representing you and who are liable to you if the conveyancing goes wrong, so you need to trust them. Be aware, some estate agents can attempt to get far too involved and though they been involved in a vast number of transactions, that doesn’t mean their legal knowledge will be up to scratch. Add to that the fact that they will often have their own agenda and you realise that you shouldn’t treat what they say as gospel.

As a rule, if someone suggests that you do a particular thing or you are concerned about any aspect of the transaction you should speak to your conveyancing lawyer and follow his advice. If you are not happy with the advice provided then you can speak to one of your conveyancer’s superiors.

Don’t Commit To Timeframes You Have No Hope Of Meeting

The conveyancing process when acting for a seller is much more straight-forward compared to that of a buyer and generally thus the seller’s conveyancing lawyers will be ready first. Because of this the buyer will often receive pressure from the sellers and/or estate agents to set a date for completion. You need to ward off setting a date until you have spoken to your conveyancing lawyers to see what is genuinly achievable. Many transactions collapse because sellers become frustrated when deadlines which were never truly achievable in the first place are missed.

Make Yourself Easy To Contact

You should try to make sure you are contactable by your conveyancing lawyers as much as possible. Bear in mind that they will probably keep the usual business hours of 9 – 5, Monday to Friday therefore it is important that you give your conveyancing lawyers a number or Email address they can contact you on during those times. Above all else, definitely make sure you available at all times on the actual day of completion. Often there are last minute fires that need to be extinguished. If you are going to be away from home, or tied up in meetings, on a particular date that has proposed for completion then you might need to propose an alternative.

Keep Your Conveyancing Lawyers Informed

Always keep your conveyancing lawyers up to date with any developments in respect of the transaction. This might be proposed completion dates or changes in the price, or you might have decided to buy/sell some chattels or have a dispute with the selling agent over his fee. Your conveyancing lawyers may find certain things out from another source but don’t assume they will.

If you are going to be unavailable for a period of time, for example if you are going on holiday, make sure you let your conveyancing lawyers know. They may be able to get you to sign certain documents, or ask you certain questions, which will allow the transaction to progress while you are away.